Rheinmetall to build a gunpowder factory in Romania

Rheinmetall will build a gunpowder factory to expand its ammunition production capacity.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced this on the Digi 24 TV channel.

Romania will receive a modern powder factory as part of a project developed jointly with the European Commission and Rheinmetall.

According to Marcel Ciolacu, the 300-hectare facility will be built near the town of Victoria, Brașov County. The investment is worth €400 million.

The Romanian Prime Minister noted that Romania already has capacities to produce NATO-standard artillery ammunition, but they are currently insufficient.

Romanian Economy Minister Radu Oprea shared that Rheinmetall officials have already arrived in Romania to start construction work on the new enterprise.

Rheinmetall’s European expansion

The large-scale deployment of the German defense giant’s production facilities across Europe is linked to plans to scale up arms production and reach an annual output of more than one million artillery shells by 2027.

According to Armin Papperger, Rheinmetall AG’s Chief Executive Officer, the company’s new production facilities across Europe, including in Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, and Lithuania, are expected to help the company reach the one million-unit target.

Rheinmetall plans to set up at least four weapons manufacturing factories in Ukraine.

It is planned that the new ammunition plant will produce a six-figure number of 155-mm artillery shells per year. The German concern Rheinmetall will own 51% of the shares in the joint plant, and the Ukrainian company will own 49%.

It is noted that it will be built on the model of an ammunition plant that Rheinmetall is building in Germany.

In total, Rheinmetall plans to produce up to 700,000 artillery shells and 10,000 tons of gunpowder at its plants in Germany, Spain, Hungary, South Africa, and Australia by 2025.